Plant: Fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) How long have you had the plant? 6 months to 1 year Light Situation: How do you determine WHEN to water? I follow the schedule I was told/researched for this plant: every 2 weeks. Describe HOW you water: Bottom watering. I also mist the leaves when it’s hot during the day […]
Plant: Monstera deliciosa How long have you had the plant? 6 months to 1 year Light Situation: How do you determine WHEN to water? I wait for the soil to become about halfway dry before watering. Describe HOW you water: Pour a small amount of water onto the soil. I use to water it once a week […]
Plant: Monstera deliciosa How long have you had the plant? 1 to 6 months. Light Situation: How do you determine WHEN to water? I wait for the soil to become completely dry. Describe HOW you water: I fully soak the soil, letting excess drain away. What fertilizer (if any) do you use? I recently started […]
How long have you had the plant? 1 to 6 months Light Situation:
Plant: Monstera deliciosa variegated How long have you had the plant? 1 to 2 years. Light Situation: How do you determine WHEN to water? I wait for the soil to become about halfway dry. Describe HOW you water: I pour a small amount of water onto the soil. I tried soaking but the plant didn’t […]
Plant: Monstera deliciosa How long have you had the plant? 1 to 6 months. Light Situation: The monstera lives inside my Ikea greenhouse cabinet with grow lights (on for 12-16 hours a day). I did try putting it on my north east facing window where it has 3-4 hours of direct sunlight for about 2 […]
Plant: Monstera deliciosa How long have you had the plant? 1-2 years Light Situation: the sun shines directly onto the blinds for more than 3 hours a day. How do you determine WHEN to water: I follow the schedule I was told/researched for this plant – about every 5-7 days. Describe HOW you water: Bottom […]
Launch Plant Helper
Plant: Hoya kerrii How long have you had the plant? 1 to 6 months. Light Situation: How do you determine WHEN to water? I wait for the soil to become completely dry. Describe HOW you water: I pour a small amount of water onto the soil. What fertilizer (if any) do you use? I have […]
Plant: Fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata)
How long have you had the plant? 6 months to 1 year
Brown edges and leaves dropping every week for the past couple of months:
Light Situation:
How do you determine WHEN to water? I follow the schedule I was told/researched for this plant: every 2 weeks.
Describe HOW you water: Bottom watering. I also mist the leaves when it’s hot during the day and it’s not time to water the plant yet
Fertilizer? I’ve never used fertilizer.
Soil:
It appears that your fiddle leaf is a few feet from a small window and lit overhead by a ceiling light. This is inadequate lighting for any satisfactory growth of a large fiddle leaf fig, which is why your plant has been mostly losing leaves for the duration you’ve owned the plant. My lighting guide suggests a minimum of 400 FC of light (during indirect light times of the day) – if you don’t have a light meter, the kind of environment where the indirect light is around 400 FC would be right in front of a large floor to ceiling window that is mostly unobstructed.
Brown tips typically occurs when minerals accumulate in the soil and since leaves act as filters, the lowest leaves will be first to become brown. When you bottom water, this doesn’t flush out the built up minerals, which is why I think so many of your leaves have brown tips. At this point, there’s nothing you can do to reverse the browning.
I would suggest you move this plant to a much larger window where it will have as wide a view of the sky as possible – if the sun comes to shine on it for longer than 4 hours, then block it with a white sheer curtain. Or you could get some powerful grow lights (like the Soltech or Sansi from this article) and have them shining on the plant at the recommended distance for 8-12 hours a day. Without this level of light, your plant won’t completely die but it will lose 80-90% of its leaves, having just a few at the very top.
Light is the prerequisite for good growth. Watering for a fiddle leaf fig is whenever its soil reaches just past halfway dry – observe the soil because that moisture usage won’t necessarily be every 2 weeks especially when you increase light levels. Fertilizer is a must for long-term satisfactory growth – get some here.
The best way to avoid disappointment is to get a better understanding of how plants grow and what environments we can realistically provide in our homes – people who sell plants would rarely tell you when a plant just won’t work in a certain space. Get clarity from my book or my online course.
